As the COOR Great Start Collaborative can tell you, the counties they serve are plagued with some of the highest rates of child raising vulnerability in Michigan, with risk factors compounded by geographic isolation, limited access to higher education opportunities, and a complete lack of high quality early care and education settings in many communities.

So last Thursday night, when the Board of Trustees at Kirtland Community College (KCC) voted unanimously to build a new state-of-the-art early learning center on campus that will serve children and also be utilized  to train future and existing early learning providers, it is fairly accurate to assert that this community college board literally voted to change lives for the better in northeast Michigan.  

Not only will the new early learning center service the children of KCC students, but will also look to collaborate with area Head Start and Great Start Readiness Programs and to utilize state child care subsidy funds to ensure service to the most vulnerable children in the region.  

In the face of the worst unemployment rate and economic conditions that area has seen in decades, these local decision makers boldly supported a commitment to the young children of their area, especially those most in need, describing it as both "a workforce development strategy" and as "a moral obligation".

This is not to say that the KCC Board and administration did not do their homework.  In partnership with the COOR Great Start Collaborative, KCC administration had looked thoroughly at feasibility-- developing architectural plans, a business plan and budget, and conducting an informal community needs assessment.  At their invitation, as a representative of the ECIC, I also had the opportunity to speak to the Board regarding state and federal trends and resources that may be relevant to their plans.
 
In other words, the Board relied both on research and on their strong sense of civic responsibility in arriving at the decision to invest in the education of the young children of their community, while clearly understanding the impact of this investment on the future economic viability of their region.

I share this success story because it reiterates to me the power we have both  individually and collectively to literally change lives and the future of our communities by utilizing informed decision making processes, especially those that result in increased educational opportunities for vulnerable populations, that are fueled by both knowledge and a sense of obligation to those in need.

As Greg Mortenson author of Stones into Schools and creator of an organization responsible for the construction of 83 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan once said, "...the people who live in the last places - the people who are most neglected and least valued by the larger world - often represent the best of who we are and the finest standard of what we are meant to become."

As an educational advocate and native of northeast Michigan, I am proud to highlight this example of a community that understands the importance of investing in those who are most neglected AND who represent, in my opinion, the "best of who we are".